La Fogata Comida — Restaurant in San Antonio

Went to La Fogata tonight in the Dominion and had the most awful experience First, when we arrived, they tried to refuse to let us sit on the patio due to it being too hard on staff. Meanwhile, they are known for their backyard area and it was one of the main reasons we chose to eat here for dinner. They have a huge big screen in the back and we were there with kids and to watch Saturday night football. The people we were with had to argue with the hostess in order to sit outside. (There were plenty of tables and other people also sitting outside so it was not closed.) She argued we needed to sit inside due to a baby shower being inside and that it would be easier for staff if we were inside as well. She also told us that they had staff walk out on previous nights due to the patio being too stressful. Odd arguments for sure but our friends stood their ground and were eventually seated outside. I should also add that the restaurant wasn’t busy and not on a wait. Once we were seated, many people followed suit and began sitting on the patio as well. There was at least 3 different waiters attending the patio so no ones was over stressed. Fast forward to the end of dinner. We were all watching the football game and this was a close game (Georgia vs Alabama so if you know, you know) and even though we had finished dinner we asked if we could have another round of drinks. At this point, it was 9:45. The restaurant closes at 10. Our waiter went to ask for the drinks and he was informed by the bar staff that the bar was closed. Again, odd and a bit early to be shutting down the bar when you still have patrons but ok. We were fine with that. Here’s where it gets even worse, at 9:50, with 3 mins left in the game and multiple tables still there, they changed the channel on the tv. At first, we thought this was a mistake and a patron from another table jumped up to go ask them to change it back. They refused. So I got up to go and ask for a manager. It is now 9:55 and I was told there wasn’t a manager and that he had already left for the night. I then went back outside and found the bar manager standing beside the shut down bar scrolling on his phone. He never even put down or looked up from his phone to talk to me. In fact, I was barely acknowledged. At that point, I went back to the table where we and the other patrons were trying to watch the game on our phones. And that’s when they started turning off all the lights to the restaurant and patio, leaving us in the dark. The poor waiters were apologizing profusely. This was clearly being done by management. I am truly appalled. I have NEVER been treated like this by a restaurant. I have worked in restaurants and we were taught that if someone walked in 5 mins before closing you still stayed until they were fed and done. I will never again go to La Fogata and I would warn people against it. I’ve never been when the restaurant is busy and now I know why. The atmosphere I thought would make up for the subpar food but no. This whole restaurant needs...

Worst experience ever at a restaurant! This is the first time I have had to write such a negative review but because this experience was so bad I feel the need to share. First off I made reservations online for a table of 7 time 7:00 p.m 9/2725 on a Saturday. When we arrived we were told they had a table ready inside for us. I let the hostess know we would like to be seated outside not inside. This restaurant has a beautiful outside seating area with a large screen tv outside and a play area for the kids to run around. The hostess then told me they didn’t want to seat anyone outside beyond the deck because it was too hard on their staff and they would like our table to be closer to the kitchen. She also made the excuse of a baby shower in process which was stressful on the staff but I could clearly see the shower was over and no one was in private room. So basically she was telling us the best hang out part of the restaurant wasn’t available because the waitstaff didn’t want to walk that far to serve us. Remind you it’s a beautiful fall Saturday evening the Alabama game was on the big screen outside and I refused to sit inside. So we kindly let the hostess know we would be understanding if the service was a bit slow due to the location of our table. She was visibly not happy but agreed to finally seat us outside. As we were seated two more tables from the top deck moved to to ground are where we were. They were obviously told as well they weren’t seating tables in this area but when they saw our table it was a domino effect. It’s because it’s the best spot to sit if you have children and this is where everyone wants to be seated. This is why people specifically come to this location. The outside seating and play area for the kids. So the evening goes on kids are having fun playing corn hole and ping pong while the adults are enjoying the Alabama game. It’s now 9: 35 with about 5:00 minutes left in the game so we asked for one more round of drinks. This location closes at 10 pm. The waiter comes back to let us know the bar is closed. This would have been most of ours second round of drinks so they were not cutting us off due to over drinking. It’s now 9:45 with about 2:30 left in the game and the restaurant turns the channel!! Our table and the table next to us are upset and ask them to turn the channel back to the game. They refuse and proceed to clean the tables. It’s not even 10:00 yet! We ask to speak to the manager and we are told the manager left already. So everyone gets their phones out to watch the rest of this incredibly close game. Then the restaurant turns the tv off and turns the ouside lights off!! Whattt!!! Are you kidding me!! I will never eat at this location ever again!! Disgusting display of customer service!...

You can surmise immediately where most of the money went for the scant amount of updating that was done to the former Aldaco's here. The deck has been spiffied up with new planking (looks like the composite stuff - "Trex"). The front door is now a facade reminiscent of some Andalusian fortification with protective blisters like some medieval shield and a portal that opens onto the deck with access to the main dining room a few steps away through the usual glass doors.

The subdued light inside the restaurant gives way to the soft glow of wall sized neon letters spelling out the restaurant's name while giving the place the gritty feel of a border cantina stuffed with "Ugly Americans" (deference to authors Burdick and Lederer). The hard surfaces of the concrete floor and the mostly unadorned walls keep the conversational ebb rebounding like overfilled basketballs off impervious surfaces while building to a crescendo such that the place begins to vibrate with a harmonic undulation. I.e., It's still as noisy as it was before!. And did I mention that the former square footage of the place was reduced by half. I suppose if the restaurant does well enough they might move the new wall back and reclaim the former space. In actuality, the interior is plenty big considering the extra dining space that is gained by the deck in fair weather.

Since I was feeling some cross-the-border vibe here, I decided to do what I used to do when visiting untried restaurants in border town Mexico. I told the waiter to "Traiga me un poquito de todo", or bring me a little of everything and he did. Actually there is a menu item by this very name. It contains a cheese enchilada with meat gravy, a chicken flauta, bowl of beans, rice, a pepper quesadilla and a beef fajita taco. .The beef fajita taco with fresh pico was the star by far. The only improvement for me would be to the flauta with chicken meat that was so stewed as to have that finely minced, extruded mouth feel. The food could have been hotter as well. One of our dinner party had ordered a chile relleno and it was undercooked and cold. The kitchen attempted to revive it, but it was ultimately and sufficiently d.o.a. such that the manager acknowledged the faux pas and obsequiously credited the charge from the bill. And that was a volunteered action once she was alerted to the problem (clap! clap!).

You know that you are no longer inside Loop 410 as the prices carry a noticeable premium over what you would normally expect to pay in general for the same Tex-Mex treats elsewhere. That in itself could be a challenge for the new La Fog in making a go of it. However, that same pricing strategy doesn't seem to slow patrons down at the nearby Fralo's and other upper moderate Dominion area eateries...